Freight transfer station



Jan, zfs;4 1932.

B. F. FITCH FREIGHT' TRANSFER ASTATION VFled`JuI1e 10y 1929 4 Sheets-lSheet Jan. 26, 1932. B. F. FlTcH FREIGHT TRANSFER STATION Filed June 1o,l 1929 4 Sheets-sheet 2 4 Sheets-.Sheet 5 B. F. FITCH FREIGHT TRANSFER STATION Filed June l0. 1929 j' Juan. 26. 1932. y

Jan. 26, 1932.- la.` F'. FITCH FREIGHT TRANSFER STATION '4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed June lO, 1929 Patented Jan. 26, 1932 UNI-Treo s'mrss PATENT oFF-rcs e BENJAMIN F. FITCH, or GREENWICH, commencer, Assmann To Moron Teamware COMPANY, on wILMrneronnnLAwAnn, a coerenza-rien or DELAWARE FREIGHT 'rnnnsrna srA'rtoN application mea :une 1c,

This invention relates to a transfer station equipped and arranged for` handling demountable automobile bodies, for readily unloading package freight from such bodies when loa-ded and `for reloading package freight into unloaded bodies, and forthe dispatch of the reloaded bodies. f The station also provides for the convenient loadingof the inbound packages into delivery carriers, i and for the convenient receipt of freight from outbound carriers and its loading into the empty containers. y

`To the above end,'I provide an inbound aisleway with, a traveling lcrane adapted t y remove loaded bodies from` trucks attheend ofthe aisleway; I provide a parallel outbound aisleway equipped with a traveling craneto enable the freshly loaded body to be mounted on the truck, and to enable Vthe lat` eral transfer of bodies from the inbound to the outbound aisleway, I prefer to employ transverse rows of io'or rollers. Thus the bodies which have been deposited in' the iney bound aislewayV and have been just emptied `may be rolled into positionin the outbound aisleway ready for reloading by package freight received on the outbound platform, and subsequently transferred to an automobile truck.; V

A feature `of 'my invention is that I incline the roller-equipped platformI downwardly from the inbound aisleway "to the outbound i aisleway,`so that diede-mountable bodies may form, and this enables meV to slope theinbound platform downwardly from its inner edgeto its deliveryedge, and to slope theV out-bound platform downwardly from `its receiving edge to its inner edge, and thus gravity aids the hand trucking both; from the received loaded containers tothe delivery vehicle and from 'the receiving vehicle of package freight at the outbound platform 1929. 'serial No. 369,555.

yto the empty containers to receive the packages. y 1

It will be seen that by means of the triple incline of the stationfloo-r` as described I do away with the necessity of power mechanism to transfer the container from their inbound aisleway to their `outbound aisleway and I also materially aid the hand trucking operationson both theinbound and outbound platforms.

I prefer to equip the intermediate or tran"- fer `platform not only with floor rollers but with suitable braking mechanism to engage the containers, 'so that I may have the floor steep enough to cause the ready rolling of the loaded containers by gravity without requin ing manual force to shove the container. AAccordingly, one or two operators -con'trollinfg the respective brakes may quickly effect the transfer of the container from its receiving aisleway to its outgoing faisleway. The two -aisleways arek preferably of Great enough height so that containers may be lifted over containers by the traveling cranes and thus the aisles may be kept full. e

The aisles and traveling cranes are so -arranged that the bodies are preferably trolleyed sidewise, and these bodies are provided with doors at opposite `ends so that in loading the packagel freight on the outbound platform, such Vfreight is transferred directly inL to the open end of the body from one or more vehicles at the opposite edge of the platform, or from t-hepiles of packagestemporarily de posi-ted on the platform. Similarly at the inf bound aisleway the freight is hand trucked through the open doors at the other ends of the bodies 'onto the inbound platformend there piled orcarried to the delivery package carrier. `As such `carriers may not be avail'- able at the time the body is received, the in Y bound platform is made Wider than the outbound, to provide more storage space.

'Ihe hand trucking may be between one i package carrier to several bodies, or between several package carriers and one body, or between severalV carriers and several bodies, according to conditions and destinations. In any case, the packages are trucked down hill, thus increasing the speed of operation, and reducing the labor cost.

In the drawings, Fig. 1 is a sectional plan illustrating my transfer station in operation;

Fig. 2 is a sectional end elevation thereof,

Fig. 3 is an end elevation of one of the containers; Figs. 4 and 5 are vertical sections illustrating one of the floor-rollers, showing also a portion of a container above such parts; Figs. 6 and 7 are vertical sections illustrating one of the hand brakes; Fig. 8 is an elevation of the hand brake lever and its lock at right an les to Fig. 7.

s shown in Figs. 1 and 2, 10 indicates an outbound platform, 2O an adjacent outbound aisleway, 30 a storage space, 40 an inbound aisleway and 50 an inbound platform. The outer edges of the 'outbound and inbound platforms are preferably at the same elevation, and at the height of the floor level of the package receiving trucks A which mayback up against the outbound platform, and the package delivering trucks B which may back up against the inbound platform. The outbound platform inclines downwardly from its outer edge to its inn-er edge and the inbound platform inclines upwardly from its outer edge to its inner edge. The three intermediate aisles 20, 30 and 40 comprise a substantially continuous single plane inclining from the inner or high edge of the inbound platform, to the inner or low edge of the outbound platform.

Along the edges of the various platforms or aisle spaces are rows of columns as indicated at 11, 21, 22, 41, 42 and 51. These columns carry the ceiling braces 60 and the roof G1. The columns 21 and 22 also carry the outbound traveling cranes, and the columns 41 and 42 the inbound traveling cranes. Trackways for these cranes are supported on brackets 23 and 43 carried by the proper columns on their inner sides and at a height above the corresponding platform somewhat greater than twice the height of a demountable body. Traveling on these trackways are cranes 25 and 45, each of which preferably has four depending cables located at the four corners of a rectangle and adapted to engage suitable hooks or eyes on the demountable bodies indicated by M.

The crane trackways overhang one or both ends of the station (Fig. 1 shows them overhanging one end) and beneath such overhanging portion is a runway for trucks adapted to deliver loaded bodies to the receiving aisle 40 and receive loaded bodies from the discharging aisle 20. A truck is shown at C at the inbound aisleway, its body having been removed, and a truck D is shown at the outbound aisleway, the loaded body M having ust been deposited thereon.

The intermediate floor space 20, 30 and 40 is equipped with rows of rollers 7 O on which the bodies may travel laterally down-hill,

with suitable hand brakes to control such travel. A convenient form of roller and hand brake is illustrated in Figs. 6 to 8 incl. and will hereinafter be described in detail. For the present it need only be noted that these rollers are free to turn, at least in the direction from the inbound toward the outbound platform, and that they coact with a suitable track carried on the underside of the demountable bodies. Each body is preferably provided with several of these tracks; thus Fig. 3 shows three downwardly facing channel beams m furnishing the tracks.

Vhen a container-carrying truck C arrives at the station, it stops at the end of the inbound aisleway 40 and the crane 45 is trolleyed over the truck. The loaded body is then lifted by the crane and trolleyed over the aisleway and deposited thereon. If another body is standing on the aisle in front of the space in which it is desired to position the arriving body, the latter body is raised and passed over the top of the standing body as indicated in Fig. 2. Vhen deposited, the doors in the end of the body toward the platform 50 are open as shown at M in Fig. 1, and the freight is hand-trucked out of the body, the hand truck being indicated at T. This freight may be deposited in piles on the inbound platform, as illustrated in Fig. 1, or it may be trucked directly to the receiving vehicle B; it may be trucked to different receiving vehicles, or freight from different bodies may be trucked to the same vehicle, as indicated by arrows in Fig. 1.

After a body has been unloaded, it is released and allowed to roll by gravity onto the intermediate storage space 30 or clear onto the outbound aisleway if there is a space vacant to receive it.

l/Vhenever a package truck A arrives a the outbound platform its package freight may be deposited on the platform if necessary, but normally there are removable bodies standing in the outbound aisle with open end doors M ready to receive the freight by hand trucking. Such hand trucking may be from one receiving truck to several containers or from several receiving trucks to one or more containers. Vhen the container has been thus loaded, its doors are closed and the crane 25 carries it (over other containers if necessary) and deposits it on truck D. In normal operation, as soon as the truck C has been relieved of its body at the inbound aisle, it drives forward to the outbound aisle ready to receive a new loaded body.

It will be seen that the operation of removing a loaded body from a truck and depositing it on the platform, unloading the body for package delivery of its freight, transferring the body to the outbound aisle, reloading it, and depositing the loaded body on the outbound truck may be performed continuously and with great rapidity. The transfer i 2O Way and the body `may then be transferred `aisleWay is entirely full When'a body is received, it is only necessary to allow a loaded body to roll onto the intermediate storage space; then,when an empty space-.is availablein the inbound aisleway, this loaded body may be rolled by `gravity to the outbound aisleWay, transferred by the crane to a waiting truck D, which will then backup into the space at the end of the inbound aisle-` by the crane to an available space in that aisleway.` On the other" hand, if the out-` bound aisleway becomes crowded and it is not Y desired to dispatch the body to a distant stales tion,fit may be, trolleyed onto the truck D thence backed to the inbound aisleway, trolleyed thereon to an open space andthen rolled by gravity to an empty storage spaceon tht` intermediate aisle. y l l Theiioor rollers may be` of any approved form and may be carried `in the intermediate floor in any suitable manner. I. prefer however to mountt'hese rollers 70 igs. 4 and 5) tightly? on short shafts 71 which have rollerbearings in a housing 72 which is mounted in a casing73 set into the floor. The floor 'proper, indicated at 74 may readily be of cement, and the casing 73 embedded therein with an external flange portionl' overhanging the cement.

`The roller bearings for the floor rollers are carried in cavities 77 in the housing having endcaps 78 as illustrated in Fig. 5.` There, 8O indicates the inner race on the shaft; 81 nuts for holding such raceway in place; 82 the outer raceway, and 83 rollers between the raceways. The outer races rest-in circular seats in the housing proper. o The roller housingis preferablyv protected from dirt by, a suitable cover. I have shown this as com risinor a late85 overhanvin the a: a: g

cavity occupied by the roller 70 and having a roughened top portion. Suitable-screws@ pass through the plate into the casing 7 2.1 l With the construction described, the different housings 73f1nay be embedded in the cement at` the time the floor is llaid, these housings being in'` rowstransversely of the Then, after the floor with its housings 15 complete, the rollersxvith their entire bearings may be readily installed inthe housings, and the covers put in placer.` v

To lock thedemountable bodies on the in clinedtransfer platform-,either in the inbound aisle, the outbound aisle or, the storage aisle, aswell as to control the passagedown the incline from one aisle tothe other, I provide suitable brakes mounted in the intermediate platform and adapted to coact with the container. There are preferably several of these brakes in a transverse row for each longitudinal Acontainer space, so that any container may be effectively controlled.

The brakes may readily be of the type shown in Figs. 6, 7 and 8 and comprise eccen- Itric disks or shoes keyed on operating shafts `91 to each of` which is keyed a hand lever 92. The shafts 91 are shown as journalled in a suitably formed housing 93 embedded in the cement flooring 7 1. The shoes 90 Vare so positioned that they may readily engage the tracks m on the underside of the 'container and shove upward thereon when the shaft 91 is rocked. The hand lever 92 is shown as provided with a latch 95 controlled by a link 96 and hand grip 97. The latch coaots with teeth on a segment bar 98 secured to the housing 93. This arrangement enables the `lever 92 to be locked in any desired position, wherefore the brake may be locked on or off as desired, or applied with varying force according to the manual pull on the lever 92.`

Y Fig. 2 illustrates one row of the brakes,

voutgoing aisle. This enables a continual control of the container in such passage.

When the container is deposited on the in- .1 Y

coming aisle and before the hoisting cables are loosened, the corresponding brake associated with that aisle is set and the container thereby locked. When -it is desired to transfer this container by gravity, this brake is loosened slightly and the container rolled by gravity under the control of the brake until the advancing end thereof is 'over the lirst brake in the storage aisle;-then, if desired, the latter brake may be set ,and control the descent until the container engages the second brake in this aisle, after which that brake controls the movement until the container arrives in the outgoing aisle, where it may be lockedby the brake of that aisle.

The brake `system described enables one manto controlrthe descent of the container by successively applying and releasing the different brakes, although, for a more rapid operation, two men may be applying different brakes, thus enable the container to move without actualstopping from the incoming to the outgoing aisle. Y

It will be seen from the description `given that my transfer station is of simple and comparatively inexpensive construction. At the same time, it enables the containers to be received, transferred and dispatched within a minimum of time. rlhe speed of operation of the entire system is therefore dependent on the speed of hand trucking the packages from the received containers and to the outgoing containers, and this speed in each instance is increased by reason of the downward incline across which the hand trucking is effected. Accordingly, the entire system may be operated with the maximum of speed efliciency, and large and heavy packages transferred without delay.

The shippers trucks are conveniently accommodated at the edge of the outgoing platform and the consignees truck at the edge of the inbound platform and neither of them are obstructing the passageway for the trucks delivering and receiving the loaded'bodies, and the time wasted by the latter truck is reduced to a minimum, as it need only be idle for the short interval while its body is being removed, the truck driven about two trucklengths forward and the freshly loaded body deposited.

l claim:

l. A system of transferring freight by the means of removable vehicle bodies, comprising lifting loaded body from a vehicle, transporting it to unloading position, trucking the contents of the body down hill to a delivery vehicle, then transferring the emptied body to a lower level, trucking a load from a receiving vehicle down hill to such lowered body, thereafter raising the freshly loaded body and depositing it on an outgoing vehicle.

2. A transfer station comprising an inclined platform, hoisting mechanism adapted to elevate a demountable body from a truck and deposit it on a higher portion of the platform where it may be unloaded, means for transferring the unloaded body by the aid of gravity to a lower region of the platform, where it may be reloaded, and hoisting mechanism adapted to raise the reloaded body and deposit it on a truck.

3. A transfer station comprising an inclined platform, two crane runways, one located over a higher portion of a platform and the other over a lower portion of a platform, cranes on the respective runways each adapted to elevate and transport a demountable body, and a truck runway extending transversely of the two crane trackways whereby a body on a truck may be removed by one crane deposited on a higher region of the platform shiftedby the aid of gravity to a lower region of the platform, and thereafter deposited by the other crane on a truclr in the truck runway.

4. A transfer station having on inclined platform, a traveling crane located over a higher portion of the platform, a parallel traveling crane located over a lower portion of the platform, and a system of floor rollers extending transversely from the higher to the lower portions of the platform.

5. In a transfer station, the combination of an inclined platform, a pair of crane trackways parallel with each other located respectively over higher and lower portions of he platform, a truck runway at the end of the platform, the crane traclrways extending over the runway, traveling cranes on said trackways, and transverse rows of rollers in the platform.

6. In a transfer station, the combination of a platform located intermediately in the station, a slightly inclined platform leading downwardly from Vone edge of the intermediate platform to one side of the station, a slightly inclined platform leading upwardly from the other edge of the intermediate plat form to the other side of the station, and vehicle runways at the outer edges of the two outside platforms.

7. In a transfer station, the combination of a slightly inclined platform located intermediately in the station, the slightly inclined platform leading from the higher edge of the intermediate platform to one side of the station, the slightly inclined platform lead ing from the lower edge of the intermediate platform to the other side of the station, and means for depositing containers on a high region of the intermediate platform and re moving them from a low region thereof.

8. In a transfer station, the combination of an inclined platform, two traveling crane traclrways parallel with each other respectively located over higher and lower portions of the platform, cranes on the trackways, means for controlling the descent transversely of demountable bodies from the higher portion to the lower portion of the platform, and a pair of platforms one leading downwardly from the higher edge of the transfer platform and the other upwardly from the lower edge.

9. ln a transfer station,'the combination of a slightly inclined platform located intermediately in the station, the slightly inclined platform leading from the higher edge of the intermediate platform downwardly to one side of the station, a slightlyinclined platform leading from the lower edge of the intermediate platform upwardly to the other side of the station, and vehicle runways at the outer edges of the two outside platforms, traveling cranes extending longitudinally over the higher portion and lower portion of the intermediate platform, tracks for said traveling cranes projecting beyond an end of the intermediate platform and over a truck runway at such end.

l0. In a transfer station, the combination of a slightlyinclined platform'located intermediately in the station, a slightly inclined platform leading from the higheredge of theintermediate platformto oneside of the station, a slightly inclined platform leading from the lower edge of theintermediate platform to theother side of the station-,iand lanesfof floor rollers located inthe intermediate platform extending transversely from the" higher region lthereof to the lower region. `11. In a freight transferstation, the'gcombination` of an intermediate platform having i `aninbound aisle fand 'an outbound aisle with their floorsina plane inclining downwardly from the inbound aisle tothe outbound aisle, an` inbound platform inclining downwardly fromthe inbound aisle, an "outbound plan` form inclining downwardly to` the outbound aisle, lanes `offfloor rollers extending transversely on the inclined platform from the upper to the lower aisle, traveling cranes lo-4 cated over such upper and lower aisles,and

a truck runwayA over which the traveling cranes are adaptedto move. l

1Q. Ina freight transfer station, in-` clinedplatform having an inbound aisle on its higher portion and an outbound aisle on its lowerportionand a storage aisle between the inbound, andoutbound aisle, mea-ns for positioningcontainers onfthe inbound aisle, sueheontainersbeing adapted to bemoved by gravity frointhe inbound `aisle ytothe storageaisle and thencetd'the outboundl aisle, y

meansy for controlling the descent, ,and means for removing containers from the outbound aisle.` `1 -1 i ltiThe-L combi-nationiA with automobile trucks and mountable automobile bodies having tracl'iways. on their undersides, of a transfer station having inelinedplatform and means for transferringlbodies from a truck `to an aisle extending along therupperporan inbound aisle along" the `.higher portion of the platformsand an outbound 'aisle along the lower'portion, apair of traveling cranes over the respective portions, said cranes being supported such eleva-tiona-boveithe platformilthattheymay lift' onebody over another.` body on* the platforms whereby bodies-received at the end ofthe inbound aislefmay be` depositedgat any position-thereon andebodies may be removed from any portion of the outbound aisle and deposited on an., outgoing vehicle, said bodies being movable by theaid ofl gravity from `the inbound torthegoutbound aisle.` i i 15,` In a freight transfer station, the combination of an inclined platform providing an inbound aisle along the upper portion of the platform and `an outbound` aisle `along theflower portion, crane traclrwaysover the respective aisles, traveling cranes on the respective trackways supported above the plat-` f-orms [a `distance greater than twice the height of a removable body, a truck runway spanned by such trackways, whereby one crane mayremove a body from a `truck in the runway, `transport it over other bodies in the inbound aisle anddeposit it on the platform, and the 'other crane may remove a body from the outbound aisle, transport it over other bodies and deposit it. on a truck in the runway, and floor rollers in the intermediate platformV arranged in transverse rows and spaced to coact with trackways on the undersides of the containers deposited on the platform. Y 16. In a freighttransferstation, the combination of an inclined platform providing -4 an inbound aisle along the upper portion of the platform and an outbound aisle along the lower `porti-on, crane trackways over the respective aisles, traveling cranes on the re# spective trackways supported above the platforms a' distance greater than twice the height of a removable body, a truck runway spanned by such trackways, whereby one crane may remove a body fromia truck in the runway, transport it over other bodies in `theinbound. aisle and deposit it on the platform, andthe other crane may remove a body from the outbound aisle, transport it over other bodies deposit it on a truck in the'runway, a downwardly inclined `side yplatform leadingfrom the high edge ofthe intermediate platform to one side of the building, an upwardly inclined y side platform leadingfrom the lower edge of the intermediate platform to `the other side of the building, and vehicle runways at the outer edges ofthe twoA side platforms.

17. In a freight transfer station, the com bination of an intermediate platform having an inbound aisle and an outbound aisle having their floor inclining downwardly from the incoming aisle to the outgoing aisle, an inbound platform inclined downwardly from the inbound aisle to" the delivery edge of the building, an outbound platform inclining downwardly from the' opposite side of the building tothe loweredge of the outbound aisle, rows of door rollers extending transversely on the inclined platform from the upper to the lower aisle, and aseries of brakes mounted in the platform and arranged in transverse rows adapted to coact with the containers.

18'. The combination with automobile trucks and demountable bodies having trackways on their undersides, of a transfer station having an inclined platform and means CTI for transferring bodies from a truck to an aisle extending along the upper portion of a platform, rows of floor rollers arranged in parallel groups and leading transversely from the upper portion of the platform to aisle.

19. In a freight transfer station, the oombination of an inclined platform having an inbound aisle along its upper portion and an outbound aisle along its lower portion, means for guiding containers transversely from the upper aisle to the lower aisle, brake shoes eccentrically mounted on rock shafts carried by the platform, levers for operating the rock shafts to cause the brake shoes to engage the containers, and means for positioning such containers on the inbound aisle and-for removing such containers from the outbound aisle.

20. In a freight transfer station, the oombination of an inclined platform having an inbound aisle along its upper portion and an outbound aisle along its lower portion, transverse rows of rollers supported by rolling bearings leading from the upper aisle to the lower aisle, containers having on their undersides trackways adapted to register with such transverse rows of rollers and means for positioning such containers on rollers in the inbound aisle and means for removing such containers from rollers in the outbound aisle.

2l. The combination with automobile trucks and demountable bodies, of a transfer station having a slightly inclined platform, means adapted to remove a body from a truck and place it sideways on the upper portion of the platform, means adapted to remove a.v bodyfrom the lower portion of the platform and place it on a truck, means for transferring a body laterally from the upper portion of the platform to the lower, said bodies having doors at the opposite ends thereof whereby either end of the body may be opened, an inbound Vplatform inclining downwardly from the higher edge of the intermediate platform and an outbound platform inclining downwardly to the lower edge of the intermediate platform, said inbound and outbound platforms being adapted for hand trucking of packages from the'incoming containers through one end thereof and into the outgoing containers through the opposite end thereof.

22. The combination with 1 automobilel trucks and demountable bodies having trackways on their base, of a transfer station having a slightly inclined platform across the end of which the trucks may drive, a traveling crane adapted to remove a body from a truck and transfer it sideways onto the upper portion of the platform, a traveling crane adapted to remove a body from the lower portion of the platform and transfer it sideways onto a truck, a system of floor rollers leading transversely Vfrom the upper portion of the platform to the lower, said rollers being adapted to engage the tracks at the bottom of the bodies, said bodies having doors at the opposite ends thereof whereby either end of the body may be opened, an inbound platform inclining downwardly from the higher edge of the intermediate platform and an-outbound Yplatform inclining downwardly at the lower edge of the inclining platform, said inbound and outbound platforms being adapted for hand trucking of packages from the incoming containers through one end thereof and into the outgoing containers through the opposite end thereof.

23. The system of transferring freight by removable bodies comprising` removing a loaded body from a vehicle and depositing it on a station platform, trucking freight from the body down hill, reloading it by trucking freight down hill to the body, thereafter mounting the reloaded bodyvon a vehicle.

24. A system of transferring freight by the means ofremovable automobile bodies, comprising lifting a loaded body from a vehicle, transporting it to unloading position, trucking the contents of the body down hill Vto a delivery vehicle, trucking a load from a' receiving vehicle down hill to such lowered body, thereafter raising the freshly loaded body and depositing it on an outgoing vehicle. a

25. In a transfer station, the combination of a slightly inclined platform located intermediately in the station, a slightly inclined platform leading downwardly from the high edge ofthe intermediate platform to one side of the station, a slightly inclined platform leading upwardlyV from the lower edge of the intermediate platform to the other side of the station, and vehicle runways located respectively at the outer edges of the two outside platforms and depressed substantially the same distance below the level of such edges.

26. The combination of a transfer station having an intermediate platform, an inbound platform inclining downwardly from one edge ofthe intermediate platform, an outbound platform inclining upwardly from the opposite edgeof the intermediate platform, a set of demountable vehicle' bodies having doors in opposite walls thereof, and

mechanism for placing such bodies on the i 27. A transferstation having an intermediate platform, an inbound platform inclining downwardly from one edge of the intermediate platform, an outbound platform in- @lining upwardly from the other edge of the intermediate platform, Vehicle runways ad'- jaeent the free edges of the outbound and inbound platforms, a Vehicle runway adjacent the end of the intermediate platform, and mechanism for transferring a demountable `Vehicle body between a Vehicle in the last mentioned runway and the intermediate platform.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto affix my signature( Y BENJAMIN F. FITCH. 

